Apparatus for coating wire



lJam. 16, 1934. c.. B;- FANToNE ET A1. 1,943,818

APPARATUS FOR COATING WIRE Filed Aug. 12, 1932 Wir;

Q* f ARN ENTOR Cha 5 B- Fanona Patented Jan. 16, 1934 UNITI-:D STATES PATENT OFFICE 1,943,313 APPARATUS Fon coA'rnvG wma Charles B. Fantone, Lyndhurst, and Reuben M. Jameson, Teaneck, N. J., assignors to Syncro Machine Company, Arlington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey This invention involves a novel apparatus by means of which any desired form oi. coating solution may be readily applied to metallic wires.

Another object of this invention is to provide a coating device within which the coating material is hermetically sealed, said device being constructed so that the wire can be moved longitudinally of its length therethrough.

A further object of this invention is to provide a wiper through which the wire passes, of such construction that it may be readily adjusted to vary the thickness of the coating applied to the wire.

Another object of this invention is to provide a coating device as described including a container for the coating compound, having an entrance orice and an exit orice for the wire formed in blocks of sponge rubber, or the like, arranged to be subjected to more or less pressure to vary the thickness of the coating applied to the wire, preventing the entrance of air into the container to the coating compound and to positively prevent the escape of coating compound from the container.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a tube extending into the container through which the wire passes to aid both initially threading the wire through the device and to prevent the lifting of the coating material from the surface of the body thereof towards the top of the container in excessive quantities.

This invention further involves a novel method of applying a thin coating to a wire, filament or similar thread-like body.

'Ihis invention resides substantially in the combination, construction, relative location of parts, steps and series of steps, all as will be pointed out in greater detail hereinafter.

Referring to the drawing- The single figure is a cross-sectional view through the device of this invention showing a wire in the act of passing therethrough.

At the present time it is common practice to employ in the so-called glue pots of coating devices for applying thin coats of adhesives, enamels and the like to the surface of wires, felt wipers having passages therethrough through which the wire passes before and after travelling through the coating compound. These coating devices are usually employed in connection with machines for applying insulation to electric wires. In some forms of machines the wire is given a coating of some suitable insulating material, such as enamel, varnish, hard drying adhesives and the like for the purpose of insulating it. In other forms of machines the wire is given a thin coating of adhesive compound over which a thin narrow strip of insulating material, such as paper, fabric, cellophane and the like, is wound in the form of a spiral wrap of overlapping turns which are held in place by the adhesive. The same machine is usually employed for the application of the adhesive and the insulating Wrap.

Heretofore the great diilculty with the adhesive applying device has been that too much adhesive is applied to the wire, and in addition the felt wipers through which the wire passes quickly become saturated with the adhesive, thereby requiring its renewal generally by replacement. In addition, the excess adhesive quickly collects on the exterior of the device resulting in an unsatisfactory condition, which must be intermittently removed and often requiring `the stopping of the machine.` Furthermore, it is not possible to advantageously and with the nice control desired, to apply the adhesive or insulating coating to the wire in a layer of jusththe desired thickness.

Because of the faulty felt wipers, it is likewise difllcult to maintain the coating compound or the adhesive compound at the right consistency, especially where it contains volatile ingredients, such as is the case with the cellulosic materials employed for securing a cellophane wrap to the wire. This is true because the felt wipers do not form a hermetic seal with a wire moving through them, with the result that air gets into the compound container and the compound gradually stiiens and becomes too viscous for eflcient application to the Wire.

All of these advantages are overcome by means of the device of this' invention which will now be described in detail as to structure, advantages and operation.

The device consists of a container of any suitable shape and size made up in one form as comprising a cylindrical wall portion 1 provided with a top cap 2 and'a bottom cap 3 secured to the tube by means of threads or their equivalents. The bottom cap is provided with a central recessed hub 4 which is internally threaded for a portion thereof and which terminates at the bottom in a concave conical wall 5. This recess is connected by a small passage 6 with the interior of the container. A threaded thumb nut or plug 'l ts in the threadedbore of the hub 4 and is provided with a concave conical end wall 9 complementary to the conical wall 5. The plug is provided with a central passage 8, as shown.

In the chamber formed by the recess and the corneal walls Sand il is a soft sponge rubber wiper in the form of a thick cylindrical disk which has a central passage therethrough of a diameter to form a rubbing tit, but not necessarily a tight fit with the wire which passes therethrough. By screwing the plug. '1 in or out, the' pressure on the soft rubber wiper 10 may be varied at will and, as a result, the frictional engagement thereof with the surface of the wire may likewise be varied as desired. By properly adjusting the plug 'l the rubber wiper 10 may be caused to engage the wire which is passing longitudinally therethrough with suiiicient friction so that absolutely none of the coating compound may leak past the wire and wiper. This is a very important feature of the invention, sincev with felt wipers it has been found that it is almost impoible to prevent the coating compound from leaking out of the container through the lower wiper.

The top cap 2 is provided with a threaded recess in which the threaded end of a small tube 11 is firmly secured. When the top cap is in place,v

this tube extends down into the container and terminates at its lower end adjacentl the bottom cap, as shown. This tube is provided with a number of holes l2 so that when the coating compound is filled into the container to the desired liquid level, it will likewise ll the tube. This tube acts to aid in feeding the wire initially through the container. Thus the end of the wire is passed through the bottom wiper 10 and into the tube l1 and is guided thereby into the small passage 15 and through the upper wiper, as will be apparent.

In addition, this tube acts to prevent the viscous coating compound from being carried upwardly from the surface of the liquid body by the rapidly moving wire. Experience has shown that without this tube the wire emerging from the large body of liquid carries upwardly into a sort o f conical mass which, with the'high speeds at which the wire moves, is carried against the upper wall and some times into direct contact with the upper wiper. By means of this tube the wire at its point of emergence from` the liquid body is only surrounded by a small body of the liquilcli, so that the lift of the material is relatively sma The upper end of tube 11 opens into a small passage l5 in the top-cap which, in turn, opens into a large recess in the central internally threaded hub 13. The lower end of this recess is provided with a c'onvex conical wall 14. At 16 is a thumb nut or threaded plug which fits in the threaded hub 13 and is provided with a concave-conical end wall 18. This plug is provided with a central passage 17 therethrough. At 19 is a second soft or sponge rubber wiper which lies between the conical walls 14 and 18 and has a central passage therethrough in alignment with the passage 15, the passage 6 and the hole in thelower wiper 10. By varying the pressure on the wiper'19 through the agency of the plug 16, the central passage in the plug is varied from cylindrical form to a conical form with its apex pointing downwardly. The frictional contact between the upper wiper and the wire vis likewise varied by moving the plug 16 in and out to vary the pressure thereof on the plug and the deformation of the plug. Adjacent the upper edges of the plug are `the upper ends of the passages 22 formed in the top cap and opening into the container.

The top cap is provided with aY threaded passage 20 closed by means of a screw plus 21 through which the container may be lled. A lock nut 23 is provided to hold the plug 16 in adjusted position. A similar lock nut may, of course, be employed to hold the lower plug 7 in adjusted position.

By varying the pressure on the upper wiper 19 the thickness of the coating emerging therefrom may be varied. If by any chance any of the compound, either during use or during adjustment, should escape around the wiper 19, it may drain back into the container through the passages 22.

The resilient soft or sponge rubber wipers 10 and 19 act to effectively seal the container at the points of entrance and emergence of the wire,

the thickness of the coating on the wire may be very nicely adjusted by varying the pressure on andthe deformation of the wiper 19.

Experience has furthermore shown thatrubber wipers are exceedingly eilicient in applying a u niform coating of unvarying thickness to a wire for long periods of use. 'Ihis is partly contributed to by the fact that the wipers exhibit little or no wear after long periods of use, thereby insuring the maintenance of the adjustments.

In addition, the rubber wiper is impervious to any of the compounds normally used in such devices and hence does not absorb any of the compound. The excess compound which reaches the lower edge of the wiper is removed from the wire and falls back into the container, and practice has shown that none of the compound other than that forming the coating for the wire -emerges from the device or escapes past the upper wiper. Y

From the above description it will be apparent that this invention resides in certain principles of construction and operation and certain steps, all of which may be varied by those skilled in the art without departure from the scope of the invention. We do not, therefore, desire to be strictly limited to the disclosure as given for purposes oi' illustration, but rather to the scope of the appended claims.

What we seek to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. A'device as described comprising a container having closed end walls, said end walls having passages therethrough terminating in enlarged recesses havingv conical end walls, screw plugs threadedly engaging said recesses and having conical end walls adjacent the conical end walls of the recesses, said screw plugs having passages therethrough, and apertured rubber wipers lying between the conical end walls vof, the recesses and the conical end walls of the screwplugs, the end wall of one recess being'convex and the end wall of the plug for that recess being concave so that the wiper therefor may be deformed whereby its. central passage assumes a conical shape.

2. A device as described comprising a. container having closed end walls and passages through the end walls with enlarged portions to provide recesses, the base of one recess being concave and the base of the other recess being convex, an apertured screw plug for closing each recess, the b'ase of the plug 'for the recess having a concave bottom being concave, the base of the plug for the recess having a convex bottom being concave.

apertured plug for closing said recess having a concave end wall, an apertured compressible wiper in the recess held under pressure by said plug so that its aperture is conical with the small end toward the container, and wiper means in the other recess.

CHARLESB. PANTONE.

REUBEN M. JAMESON. 

